When building your Daily Fantasy Hockey lineups, two of the most important parts of your research are studying NHL Vegas lines and looking closely at line combinations. Utilizing the information gained from these two areas should help improve your teams and garner better results.
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NHL VEGAS LINES
On a night where there is a full slate of NHL games, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which games to target. This is where the Las Vegas odds come in to play. Most of the time you will see a 5.5 over/under for NHL games, it is rare to see numbers as low as a 5 Over/Under. When you do see numbers this low, you need to take notice.
The Las Vegas odds makers are very accurate over time, so it’s prudent to listen to what they are projecting on a nightly basis. If they list a game at a 5 Over/Under, then they are expecting a low scoring, tight-checking affair (i.e. Kings @ Predators). In that case it is generally better to look elsewhere for our offense. With that said, we are definitely interested in a goalie from this game, especially if one of the teams is a big favorite. If one team is involved in a 5 Over/Under and is a bigger favorite than the -140 range or above, then he makes a great play as your goalie for that evening.
If we see an O/U of 6, Vegas expects a high scoring game and we certainly want in on the action. If one of the teams involved in this game has a high Over/Under then they are a heavy favorite. In this situation I recommend loading up on 2-4 players from that team. If neither team is a heavy favorite (around -120/+120 or closer to 100) then we will want exposure to both teams as Vegas expects both teams to score at a high clip.
Cliff Notes: Ideally we want all of our players to be involved in games with a high Over/Under. Our Goalie on the other hand, should be a heavy favorite in a game with a low O/U.
LINE COMBINATIONS
In the real world, it is all about who you know. In the NHL, it is all about who your linemates are. Knowing what players are on the top scoring lines and who will receive the majority of the powerplay time, is essential to winning in daily fantasy hockey. Your odds of scoring points increases dramatically by receiving plenty of ice time, especially on a power play possession.
On most nights we cannot afford to load up on all the top lines (Toews/Kane, Getzlaf/Perry, Benn/Seguin, Crosby/Kunitz), however by knowing their linemates we can still get exposure to 3 or 4 big scoring lines on any given night. Players like Brandon Saad, Dustin Penner, Valeri Nichushkin and Lee Stempniak were fantasy gold while playing alongside stars Jonathan Toews, Ryan Getzlaf, Tyler Seguin and Sidney Crosby for stretches last season. Not only were they inexpensive to own, but they produced like All-Stars for a short time.
Some teams, like the Anaheim Ducks, consistently rotate wingers off and on their top line which features Getzlaf and Perry. Knowing who that player being rotated is each night can be very profitable, and alleviate some Daily Fantasy salary cap concerns.
Reading Rotoworld daily is your best way to stay in touch with injuries and line changes. If a player gets hurt from a top scoring line, you want to know who replaces them. That replacement player will be a great value play, while filling in for the injured star. Do your due diligence and you will be rewarded.
Good luck Grinders!
Pepsi7
